Those precious moments
by Ania Lupin
Summary: They are so few, the precious moments of our lives. They fade from view, and when they do, we try to live them anew. [drabbles] [draco/ginny]
1. Part I - Can I help you?

This is going to be a DG drabble series, hopefully one per day, as long as my creativity alows me. Hope you all enjoy ;)

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**Can I help you?**

_Words: 202_

Draco first really noticed her at the end of his fifth year: that bat-bogey hex was undoubtedly something, as was all the glowing red that surrounded the Gryffindor witch.

He entered the Weasley twins' store because the same was full to the point of him being overlooked. He only wanted to enter because of her.

"Can I help you?" Ginevra didn't sound happy at all at the sight of him. "Don't look so surprised, I'm obligated to help you, Malfoy."

"Yes, you can help me. Point me in the direction of salvation, give me my fucking freedom back. And if you can't do any of those impossible things, just let me look at you. Just let me look at your freaking freckles while I imagine my lips tracing each one of them, so I can think of something other than the crushing weight my surname is making me endure."

Needless to say that wasn't the answer that came from his thin lips.

"I'm ok." No, he wasn't. "I'm just looking, Weasley." But it was good to just look at her. "If I need anything, I'll ask." And later that year, he would end up asking.

Draco should have continued window shopping.


	2. Part I - Goals

**Goals.**

_Words: 119_

Goals.

He had a lot of goals this year.

"So, Zabini, what did Slughorn want?"

Beat Potter on Quidditch.

"Just trying to make up to well-connected people."

Beat Granger on Potions.

"Who else he had invited?"

Punch the last annoying Weasley boy on that school.

"Longbotton, Potter, the Weasley girl."

Kiss his sister.

"The Weasley girl? Whats so special about her?"

Kiss her until he forgot about the last thing on his list.

"A lot of boys like her. Even you thinks she's good looking, don't you, Blaise?"

Kill Dumbledore.

"I wouldn't touch a filthy little blood traitor like her."

But Draco would. Draco wanted to.

Draco was so fucked.

He had a lot of goals this year.


	3. Part I - Two knuts

**Two knuts.**

_Words: 173_

Draco didn't really know why he was doing that, the redhead would definitely kill him if she ever found out.

"It was right here, I swear!"

In his defense, he knew the witch couldn't afford that amount of candy with only two knuts.

"It's a brown leather wallet," He surely doubted it was authentic leather. "And it has my family's photo inside."

Two knuts and a photo.

"You should learn to shoplift if you can't pay for your sweets, Weasel." The wizard whispered in the gryffindor's ear, enjoying her gasp of surprise.

"Sod off, Malfoy."

"Wash your mouth, Weasley. Here." The Slytherin enjoyed even more seeing a look of sheer confusion on her face when he paid for both.

Draco didn't wait for a thank you before leaving Honeydukes.

It was late midnight when he finally took the wallet out of his pocket. The photo was old, and it really had every damn member of her annoying huge family, but the little ginger girl eating happily a sugar plum made everything worth it.


	4. Part I - Chocolate chip cookies

**Chocolate chip cookies.**

_Words: 252_

The house elves weren't exactly happy with her midnight baking, nor would any Gryffindor be in case she got caught: they absolutely didn't need to lose any more points that year. But Ginevra simply needed those damn cookies: to possess them was non-negotiable. Would it be easy to accomplish that simple task? As a matter of course it wouldn't. Did she care? Oh, she didn't give a damn in hell.

"What are you doing here, Weasel?" Of course the one to find her would be that bloody git.

The girl breathed deeply, trying to come up with a satisfactory answer: nothing in her mind beside her batch. Silence was chosen, and Ginevra returned her attention to the oven, taking out a trail full of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. She was as good as damned, at least the witch would eat those freaking sweets.

"Hey!" It went out of her mouth when the Slytherin took the trail from her.

"Give me the chocolate and nobody loses points." Oh, she could hex him! "After all you own me, Weasley girl." She certainly did not! "Honeydukes, last Saturday. Ring any bells?"

"Listen-"

"Shut it. Be like chocolate: it doesn't ask silly questions. It simply understands."

It didn't take long for Malfoy and the cookies to vanish from her sight. Definitely she didn't expect to find out in the middle of the night that the wizard was a chocolate lover like her. That damn snake, full of surprises.

Like a box full of chocolates.

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**A/n.:** Hey Karin! Yep, I'm trying to keep 1 per day ;) Tks for commenting!


	5. Part I - Safety

**Safety.**

_Words: 191_

Draco always preferred being safe. It was nice to stay on the winning side, to be certain of all things. As his father always said: know safety, no injury. Better a thousand times careful that once dead. Safety was comfortable.

Safety was a thing he has not experimented since the beginning of his sixth year.

There was danger everywhere he looked at. In the warnings of his godfather. In the letters from Bellatrix. In the goddamned little Weasley girl that insisted on tormenting his bloody dreams. There she was again, sitting by the same tree as yesterday, playing with her old quill while talking with a Hufflepuff girl.

Maybe she troubled him that much because in her, he could only see the thing he was missing the most: safety. That girl seemed like a safe heaven. He let himself imagined that being in her arms was like taking shelter in a place free from any risk or danger.

Draco, who so much liked to play safe, has not yet realized he was experimenting the most risky thing in the world while looking at Ginevra's ginger hair.

Love was incredibly dangerous, indeed.

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**A/n.:** Hey guest, tks for commenting ;) Always found those two interesting together!


	6. Part I - Runner's high

**Runner's high.**

_Words: 188_

Have you ever looked at someone and felt an instant connection, and known deep down you had found the person you one day would marry?

Well, it wasn't a person the wizard had fallen for: it was a feeling. If he could, Draco would definitely marry his runner's high. Running was fun, eased his pain and was way better than releasing his frustrations at a bottle of firewhisky. It was never too cold to run, and he could quiet his mind while listening to his almost exploding heart.

He was on his fifth lap when the witch joined him. On his sixth when she gave up. On his seventh - and last - when he stopped beside her.

"Please explain to me where's the fun in that."

"Be here tomorrow morning, 6 am. I'll show you."

He didn't expect to find Ginevra waiting by the lake the next day. Draco could recognize in her face the moment she got the high.

Have you ever looked at someone and felt an instant connection, and known deep down you had found the person you one day would marry?

Running just got better.


	7. Part I - Falling asleep at the wheel

**Falling asleep at the wheel.**

_Words: 155_

"I'm busy, Weasel." Draco said as she sat next to him. "There's no place for a good little Gryffindor here."

"It's a public place, Malfoy. Or did your father buy this piece of grass for you too?"

Goddamned witch which with her annoying presence was undoubtedly making him drop the ball. He needed to start paying more attention to his responsibilities, he needed to be more focused on his bloody work.

"At least I can buy whatever I want."

Not spending his time in the garden, waiting for her.

"Are you sure about this?"

Her words stung, as they habitually did.

"Everything has a price, Ginevra." It was the first time he used her name.

For once, she remained silent.

What is her bloody price, he pondered for more time he should have.

Draco was falling asleep at the wheel. One of these days, this could cost him more than he was willing to pay.


	8. Part I - 6 AM

**6 AM.**

_Words: 171_

Great idea, Ginevra.

"Why 6 am?"

Brilliant idea of going for a daily run with Malfoy at dawn. She could barely see the freaking ground before her!

"Don't you eat breakfast?" She asked, feeling stupid just after. Obviously he did, she made sure of that last Tuesday. "Have you vouched for a life of terrible mornings?" That option was more believable. "Are you," She started walking, her muscles on fire: the wizard hasn't even been breaking a sweat yet. "Human?"

"I'm running out of patience here, Ginevra." He rolled his eyes, pausing a few steps after her.

"I need water."

Draco pointed at the lake, and it was her turn to roll her eyes.

"It's drinkable, you know." He said, drinking a hand full of the crystal liquid to make his point. "Go drink it already. Only one lap left, witch."

_Why do you treat me like a normal person here?_

But that she didn't dare to ask out loud.

That was what made almost bearable waking up at 6 am.


	9. Part I - Bitter

**Bitter.**

_Words: 201_

It was something nobody knew besides her mother: Ginevra Weasley always felt good after eating a lemon. The laziness of convincing someone about the benefits of that fruit always won, so the witch was used to enjoy the sourness while observing the usual calm Hogwarts lake.

"A lemon?" Oh Merlin, seriously? Is that bloody wizard chasing me this year? "The sour taste doesn't bother you?"

"The sour allows me to appreciate the sweet." Prick.

"I enjoy them too." And he sat in the wet grass next to her. "Mother gave one to me when I was a baby, though I would hate it. I devoured the whole bloody thing." Their eyes found each other: never had she been so close to the wizard without wanting to hex him to another dimension. "What about bitter?"

"Hated bitter as a kid."

"And now?"

It was so annoying to admit that the color of his eyes really was something.

"The bitter the taste, the better is the medicine."

And for one second, she wondered how bitter the gray-eye wizard lips would taste.

"Our tastes really change when we get older." He commented, taking one lemon for himself.

Oh, they change. Tastes change indeed.


	10. Part I - Smile

**Smile.**

_Words: 191_

"What's that?" And there she was again.

He didn't expect Ginevra to come to him that afternoon. Wasn't the witch spending her evening with that mudblood again? She was, they were sat by the lake and he was certain of it - it was because of that he started tracing all that red hair in his notebook in the first place. She couldn't see him, she wouldn't interrupt him, and he could finally watch her peacefully.

"What IS that?"

The piece of paper was already in her hands and bloody hell, Draco should hex the witch. He should start throwing at her things about her not-so-wealthy family, about her freckles, about her. About the wizard he had seen by her side more frequently.

"It's just a scratch, Weasel."

"I can't draw even if my life depended on it." He threw her a half smile. "Especially not like this. It's beautiful, Draco."

And there she was, on a first-name basis again.

"You can have it."

"I can't pay you."

Oh, he could think of countless ways of repayment.

"I can think of something."

But right now, her smile was enough.


	11. Part I - Soft

**Soft.**

_Words: 145_

Things were getting soft between the two.

"Did you hear about this year's Thanksgiving deserts?"

Gentle.

"We're not getting pumpkin pie!"

Pleasing.

"But the brownies are always something, though."

Maybe because it was so easy to talk about amenities with each other.

"Quidditch last Saturday was pretty boring."

"Totally agree."

"Aren't you playing this year?"

Maybe because with him, she could speak her mind.

"Don't have the time or the energy. It gets pretty tiresome to just watch, though. Enjoying the blueberry muffins?"

Maybe because with her, he could do the same.

"It's so so. But the vanilla one is great, though. Those elfs really know how to bake. Wanna have a snack after classes again tomorrow?"

And neither of them couldn't. They shouldn't.

"I've got a lot on my plate tomorrow."

But they would.

"Think I have 10 minutes to grab a coffee, though."


	12. Part I - Forest Fire

**Forest fire.**

_Words: 264_

He never really took pleasure in observing the fire, until the beginning of his school year. Months ago, sat by the fireplace at the manor, Draco would rather stay in the cold than bring himself to light the wood in front of him. Cold was better, cold was silent, dryer. Now, his eyes were unable to leave the flames.

He always knew the fire would come. Most of his year had been dry, maybe most of his life. Fire comes when there's a lack of water. Even though there's so much water around, he wondered sometimes how this soil had been so arid. It was so strange to be lost in that devouring inferno. It was worse to enjoy it.

Yes, the fire has devastating consequences. Terrifying results. It covered everything in a thick blanket of smoke, blinding one's of its dangers. Nothing good could come from a fire.

He should have stayed inside, he should have limited his time outside when in the middle of a fire. But one can't stay inside all the time. So, even with the heat drying his throat, even with the ashes burning his eyes, he needed his time with the well-known flames that afternoon.

"Fire season again." More like a fire year.

"It's sad." The observation came from Ginevra, the fire itself. "For the animals living in the Forbidden Forest. Professor Dumbledore is taking measures to extinguish it, but so much has been burnt already."

Undoubtedly, so much of him had been burnt already.

But for this fire, he could always find more wood to lit.

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**A/n.:** Tks Robs! Nice to see you here too ;)


	13. Part I - Don't you think it'd be better?

**Don't you think it'd be better if we just?**

_Words: 209_

It was supposed to rain all weekend, and raining it was.

"How about we skipped running today?" She said, but there she was, ready to follow the blond wizard in the middle of a ridiculous storm. "I mean, running is great. I really enjoy running. But-"

But why instead of running, they just freaking talked about what the bloody hell was going on between them?

She only found words again with him already by her side, she once more realizing how taller was Draco as her eyes found his gray ones.

"Don't you think it'd be better if we waited a little longer?" Ginevra wasn't talking about running anymore. "I'm leaning towards it. You know, waiting."

"I don't think I am." The answer made her heart skip a beat, and she thought for a second that finally, finally they were going to talk about those excuses for spending time together. "I like to kick off running first thing in the morning, you know this." There weren't. They wouldn't.

"Don't you think it'd be better if we just talked about it?"

Draco was already in the middle of the storm when he screamed his answer.

"Don't you think it'd be better if we just didn't?"

He ran alone that day.


	14. Part I - Yoga

**Yoga**

_Words: 300_

Yoga time. Best time of the whole day, lately. Ginevra Weasley, a yogini, who would have imagined? She wasn't the most patient witch he knew, and how the hell did the girl know how to yoga?

Ginevra surely was in that after-class optional, that's presumably the reason she could do a downward dog in front of him. And damn, that girl, who never showed up anymore to their morning runs, was flexible as hell.

"You yoga." Draco said, finally deciding to approach.

"For Quidditch." She answered, maintaining the position. "Lower back problems, pain in my tail bone, laying in bed at night is uncomfortable." The girl continued, standing up, locking eyes with him. "Yoga helps."

He knew he should leave.

"How?"

He should go back to his Common Room.

"It teaches you how to use your body properly."

But again, she was talking to him like he was anyone.

"Imagine a sweater too small. You can't move around on it, right? But over time, it stretches. This is the goal of yoga."

Like he wasn't a Slytherin.

"And there's also a spiritual side. Yoga means union, two things becoming one. When you are in an extremely difficult pose, you can't think of other things. It's like meditation. Your body and soul become one."

Like he wasn't Draco Malfoy.

"So, it's basically meditation with your body."

Like he wasn't the one who would kill-

"Sometimes, something, like a trauma, it stays in your body." She said, and he could briefly see a twinge of pain in those brown eyes. "That part of your body stays like, trapped in that emotion. You lose flexibility. When you meditate, you forget about this. And when you forget about this, you become more flexible."

He should have left.

"Can I try?"

And she smiled.


	15. Part I - Buzzkill

**Buzzkill**

_Words: 191_

"Don't be a buzzkill." Ginevra said when the wizard at her side sighed for the fifth time.

"I'm not a buzzkill."

"Yes you are." She insisted, sipping once more from the cup in her hands. "You're killing my vibe."

"I'm killing your vibe because I don't want you to get intoxicated?" And the witch almost spilled all her drink laughing.

"Merlin's beard, who says intoxicated these days?"

As she was going to get intoxicated by drinking a glass of butterbeer. That drink didn't have that power over the redhead. No, the liquid inside the cup she held was inoffensive.

"I do, Weasley."

But Draco wasn't. Lately, the Slytherin sucked the air out of the room - in a good and bad way at the same time. Lately, around the wizard, she felt like she was suffocating. All she could think about was him and his stupid gray eyes.

That's why she kissed Harry last Saturday. And when Ginevra opened her eyes and found his green ones staring happily at her, it was like all the air left the room - in a bad, terrible way.

"I'm not gonna get intoxicated."

She already was.


	16. Part I - She kind of skipped her

**She kind of skipped her first class**

_Words: 252_

She kind of skipped her first class by accident.

Ginevra never skipped a class in her five years at Hogwarts. She bloody loved Transfiguration. And yet there she was, watching him from afar. He was, too, skipping his class. He was, too, missing Potions - and how the hell she knew what class he took Friday morning? He was, too, walking secretive in the middle of the corridor on the fifth floor.

She almost noticed too late the wizard stopping in front of a door, but not entering. Had he seen her? No, in his eyes there was no sign of recognition. When those eyes had become so… sad?

It was the Room of Requirement, she only identified when he disappeared behind the once more closed door. Ginevra would enter the room and would ask what the hell was wrong with him this last week, she decided. She was skipping a freaking Transfiguration class, for God's sake! What could go wrong if she pushes open that door?

She was practically touching the doorknob when he exited the room - he knew she was following him, she could tell by the way his expression showed no sign of surprise. Should she say something? Do something? Why in hell was she following him in the first place?

"Transfiguration is boring." It finally left her lips when she found his deep, sad eyes. "Wanna go for a run?" Why he choose now to be silent?

Draco sighed.

Ginevra sighed.

She would skip more classes until Christmas break.


	17. Part I - The most wonderful time of

**The most wonderful time of the year**

_Words: 282_

It's the most wonderful time of the year, everyone says.

Not for him. For him, it was a reminder of how little time he had to work in that cabinet. An annoying season that whispered every day in his ear how much he could not fulfil the order he was given.

On Christmas carols, the only thing Draco could hear was he had less than six months to think in a way out of it. Seeing the stupid huge tree in the main hall, his mind automatically thought about his mother and what she might endure in case of his failure.

The only thing that got his mind out of all his misery was the colour of her hair. When did this feeling start?

"I found New Year's Eve better than Christmas too, you know." Ginevra's voice was soothing as always as she sat next to him on the snowy ground. Why did she keep talking to him? Wasn't she and Potter an item now? "Although I confess I think it is a bit frightening."

"How can you be afraid of a stupid holiday, Weasley?"

"It's like the first page of a new notebook. I'm always afraid of writing something new and messing it all up."

"And how could you do such a thing?"

Silence.

"Close your eyes." And closing them he did. "What happens under the mistletoe stays under the mistletoe, Malfoy."

Her kiss was the best gift Draco received that year. When he opened his eyes again, Ginevra was already walking back to the castle. The wizard didn't stop his smile when looking up: there was no sign of mistletoe.

It was truly the most wonderful time of the year.


	18. Part II - Sugar plums everywhere

**Sugar plums everywhere**

Words: 165

"I don't really care for Brussels sprouts." Ginevra confessed to the wizard, pushing away the greens.

"Didn't know you could afford to be a finicky eater." The Gryffindor rolled her eyes. Why in Merlin's name she went on with that foolish dare, again?

"I don't really care for you either!" She should have politely declined when the Slytherin found her last Friday with that stupid, stupid idea.

"I'm not a fan of that ridiculous amber-like eye color of yours and don't like your stupid ginger messy hair." Malfoy said with a smirk on his face: git. "But I definitely saved all the room possible for the kisses you now own me." Bloody gorgeous git. "You lost, Weasel." He continued, gently pulling her closer. "Should have eaten the Brussels sprouts." She just couldn't not smile back.

No, Ginevra didn't lose. After all, there were sugar plums everywhere: in his hands, in his voice, in his lips.

"Picky eaters always prefer luscious desserts."

Sugar plums everywhere.


	19. Part II - Creativity

**Creativity**

_Words: 152_

She swirled and swirled the quill between her fingers: nothing. Up there in the Astronomy Tower for the last hour, Ginevra couldn't put even a word in the paper held in front of her. The sun was already rising, and the piece of parchment remained blank.

"You should nap, Weasel." The sudden interruption almost made her fall of the window. "Sleep is extremely beneficial for creativity. Takes away writer's block."

Ah, that voice.

"And why do you care?"

"I don't." The answer was an expected one.

When she looked up, there was no wizard to be seen at the tower's entrance - and that was also expected.

"For your information, I was just getting into the zone, you git." She murmured to herself, biting her lower lip to contain the tears.

It was hard to get that stupid Potion paper finished. It was even harder to start another day without hearing from him.


	20. Part II - Giver

**Hey guys, check out my new DG! Scarlet: second hand clothing ;)**

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**Giver**

_Words: 272_

Perhaps it was her mother. Maybe the fact of having six older brothers, and a too big family that shared everything. Ginevra knew since her early years she was the giver type. An over-giver, in fact. Her operating policy has always been: if it belongs to me, don't worry, you can have it too! The girl shared her cookies, her strength, her love, never asking for anything back.

She didn't expect anything back from him.

"For me?"

"I won't be around for Christmas."

"But I don't have anything for-"

He silenced her with his lips.

"Last year I didn't get you anything." And neither did she! "There wasn't any mistletoe over our heads that day, you know." She could feel her cheeks burning. "It was because of you. I didn't do it because of you, Ginevra."

It was her turn to quiet him down.

"You're not going to open it?"

"I know I love it already."

"And how can you?"

"My mother always said: love the giver more than the gift."

"Do you?"

The fact is, Ginevra enjoyed being a giver. By learning to give so much at an early age, she now knew that the best and most beautiful things in the world could not be seen or touched. They were experienced with the heart.

It was truly wonderful to feel it coming from him: she knew Draco wouldn't say it back, maybe he would never say it aloud, but it didn't matter to her. His actions had told her that he cared so many times already. There was no need for words.

"I do."

And love him she did.


End file.
